this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2023
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Right but efficiency doesn't mean it's better. Electric heat has always been 100% efficient, but that has not made it the most cost effective nor the best solution over far less efficient means of generating heat either. Efficiency isn't the only factor. The debates and critisms here are valid from what I've seen.
Personally, I'm not sold on them... maybe if I lived someplace warmer but living in Wisconsin, they are not for me. I've also seen that they require a lot more maintenence and are much less resilient compared to furnaces and central air units. I've watched plenty of installation and repair videos on them. Even the HVAC guys have issues with them in these terms.
The thing that blows peoples mind is that heat pumps are MORE than 100% efficient.
WWHHAATT?? WHAT ABOUT THERMODYNAMICS??
Heat pumps don't GENERATE heat. They move it.
In the same way that a locomotive can expend a few hundred gallons of diesel to MOVE a few hundred thousand, so can a heat pump MOVE more joules of thermal energy than it expends in the moving process.
Heat pumps are more complex then a natural gas unit, absolutely. Depending on what you're paying for energy, it's entirely possible it's not cost effective right now.
But,as the tech improves and energy costs increase, the break even point will eventually meet you, even in Wisconsin. If it's not for you right now, that doesn't make you a bad person.
But keep your eyes on it and don't write it off. I don't know how old you are, but it's still likely to end up the most effective choice for you at some point in your lifetime. Certainly in your children's.
Oh yeah, for sure, I keep an eye on all these types of things because at the end of the day, I'm a cheap bastard, and love long-term savings. I am going to go with the option with the highest positive expected value for me, but heat pumps are not there for my climate just right now. I'd be more then willing to convert over if that ever changes.